The
scope of this friction seminar is to provide a professional level of
knowledge for both racing and high performance street friction materials.
We will cover some basics for beginners. These basics are required to get
all attendees on the same page. However, we will quickly move ahead into
race (60%) and street (40%) in-depth discussions. Handouts will be provided
to help attendees gain as much as possible from the 6 hours of presentation
and two hours of Q&A. Detailed vehicle and dynamometer testing featuring
comparative analysis of various materials will also be reviewed. Top
materials in the field will be discussed. Relative strengths and weaknesses
of materials will be reviewed including speed sensitivity, load sensitivity,
fade modes, in stop friction behavior, initial bite, lap after lap
degradation, swell, growth, wear, spider diagrams of comparisons using 12
different critical parameters in the visual and mapping to illustrate the
extreme non-linearity of the materials will all be covered. Vehicle testing
will be compared to dyno results to illustrate how dyno only thinking can
lead to unhappy customers. Critical questions to help sort out the
customersí expectations will be reviewed. Raw materials and their impact on
performance will also be covered. A quiz will also be conducted to assess
how attendees learned during the day. A presenter survey evaluation form
(similar to SAE) will be distributed to all those who attended.

Methods:

PowerPoint will be used combined with handouts. The complete presentation
will be printed, along with additional information to help attendees learn
as much as possible in the limited time. A video of track testing featuring
five different friction materials will also be used.

Goals:

Learn how friction varies and why this is important to satisfying
customers.

See the drastic differences in materials.

Understand that friction companies may or may not have the best materials
for the customerís usage.

Avoid making inappropriate recommendations to a customer.

The Presenter:

Rob
Nelson has worked in the brake industry for 35 years. He holds both a BS in
Mechanical Engineering and an MBA. He opened offices in
Tokyo,
Munich, UK,
Detroit and
other markets to serve the brake industry. He has helped several top
companies expand their brake businesses. Rob has worked in aircraft,
motorsports, OEM, motorcycle, fleet, and aftermarket braking.